Dawson Creek landlord claims CMHC rental survey is “so out to lunch”

January 2, 2017 6:09 pm

Apartment vacancy rates in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John are once again the highest in British Columbia, according to Canada’s housing agency, but local landlords are divided on whether the numbers accurately reflect the market.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) blamed low oil and gas prices and oversupply for climbing vacancy rates in Fort St. John and Dawson Creek in its annual rental market survey.

Dawson Creek recorded an overall rental vacancy rate of 19.1 per cent in October, 4.5 points higher than the same time last year.

Fort St. John, meanwhile, saw its vacancy rates surge from 12.1 per cent to 30.7 per cent, according to CMHC. At 34.8 per cent, the town’s vacancy rate for one-bedroom apartments was the highest in the province.

But Doug Scott, a residential real estate investor in Dawson Creek, is skeptical of CMHC numbers.